Someone that could relate
by footshooter
Summary: Peter's hanging around outside of Avengers Tower, Natasha finds him on her way out. Major spoilers for The Amazing Spiderman 2, so just don't read if you haven't seen it and don't wanna know what happens. Basically just an idea that got into my head and I couldn't force out til I wrote it down.
1. Chapter 1

_**a/n: **_**For those who are confused and think I've somehow illegally got my hands on a copy of Spiderman 2, check the release dates in the UK (they're on imdb, google it, first link). It came out on the 16th April (apparently, I actually thought it was the 19th coz it was good Friday advertised and I was confused by it and didn't go coz it'd be full of kids screaming on and the traffic would be _awful_) and I saw it on the 23nd (I think, all my days are merging together. I think it was a Wednesday. It could have been a Tuesday. This is what revision and exam season does to me). I dunno why the USA have like half a month between my date and yours, but it has been released, I didn't decide when it would be released so it's not my fault, and the story _does_ contain spoilers, so don't complain if I've ruined the film because you have been warned! Cheers. **

* * *

Peter stood, hood up, somewhere in the middle of a part of New York that was pretty far from home. He was lost, needed to talk to someone, and he couldn't think of anywhere else to go. In fact, he wasn't quite sure why he was even here. He was terrified to even stand in front of the door, never mind knock. He was conflicted, his heart heavy, his head filled with shit he couldn't shake. The guilt weighing him down, all of the people he couldn't save.

He stood there for best part of the day before someone walked out. A woman, he recognised her from TV, from giving evidence against the fall of the all-American society. People were staring at her, muttering, whispering, and she just kept walking, head high.

Peter stuck his hands in his pockets and followed her, skipping a couple of times to catch up.

"Hey, doesn't it bother you that they're all muttering about you?"

Natasha Romanoff didn't so much as flinch, as she turned to him, looked him up and down, and then smiled.

"Not exactly. Wanna get some ice cream?"  
"You don't even know me."

She caught his eyes, hidden under the hood, and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I know you. Do you want some, or not?"

Peter looked back at her, bottom lip trembling ever so slightly, and then he gulped the lump in his throat down and nodded.

"Okay, come with me."

…

Peter followed a step behind as Natasha led him through the streets to a back alley which was a little less busy. He started to wonder if she was going to turn on him when he spotted a little café which was almost empty and had a quaint old-style American look about it, with the red and white striped covering on the veranda and the chipped and painted white-chairs.

He looked at Natasha and she smiled.

"Yeah, most people don't know it's here. Tony pays enough to keep the guy in business for a month and we head out here when we want some air. And some alone time. Steve found it. As you can probably imagine."

The one table was occupied, now Peter looked closer, by Steve Rogers himself, sipping coffee and reading a newspaper.

"You like coffee?" Natasha asked.  
"Uh, yeah."  
"The coffees great too. What's your favourite ice-cream flavour?"  
"Uh, toffee."

Peter cringed as he realised he'd said Gwen's, and not his own.

"Sorry. No. I like mint best."

Natasha cocked her head slightly, glancing at him looking at the floor, his cheeks slightly coloured, and she almost felt sorry for him. She tapped him on the arm and smiled up at him.

"What a coincidence, that's mine too."

She put an arm around his shoulders and led him forwards into the café to place their orders.

…

Natasha flopped down in a chair outside, throwing an ice cream cup over the top of Steve's paper and knocking it to the table. When he looked over at her to frown his displeasure, she put the coffee down over the other side and beamed at him. Peter pulled out a third chair and sat down, eventually pushing his hood back.

"Ah, that's better. We get to see your sweet little face now," Natasha said, wiping ice cream on his cheeks. Peter snorted, wiping it off, and looking to Steve for help.

Steve shrugged.

"She's always this annoying, yes."

Natasha smirked, and wiped Steve's ice cream over his face. Steve sighed, and wiped it off.

"Did I or did I not just buy you your favourite ice cream and coffee?"

Steve looked down.

"Ah, yes. You did."  
"Then shut up."

Steve huffed and rolled his eyes as Natasha leant back and put her feet up on the forth chair.

"So, what's the deal with you, kid?"

Peter looked up at her, licking ice cream from a spoon and shrugging.

"I dunno. I just figured I needed someone to talk to that… Well, that could relate to me?"  
"Finding it difficult to adapt to being a hero?"  
"Not so much the hero bit. More the everyone-I-love-dying bit."

He frowned, his cheeks reddening again, and Steve reached over to pat him on the shoulder. He looked up at him and smiled sadly.

"Sorry. I just… It's been tough."  
"We thought you were gone for good. We were getting ready to send in a team when Sytsevich was running around. But you got there first."  
"I just," he sighed. "I made a promise and I broke it. And if I hadn't've broken it, she'd still be here."

"It's a lot of pressure to have on one man's shoulders, Peter," Steve said, speaking like he knew. "You can't blame yourself for the actions of others just because you couldn't stop them."

They ate in silence for a while, Natasha glancing at Steve repeatedly, but he didn't look until she kicked him in the leg.

"Ow! What?"

Natasha sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"Peter, you can always join up."  
"Huh?"  
"The Avengers. We have parties and sleepovers and sometimes save the world in between. And we have a really cool tower."

Peter smiled.

"I appreciate the offer, but I can't leave my aunt. I mean, Harry knows who I am, which means other people will know who I am. She's in danger all of the time without even knowing."

Natasha and Steve glanced at each other.

"Okay. Well, we're always here if you need us."

Steve wrote his number down on a napkin, and Natasha rolled her eyes and wrote down her own.

"We're usually keeping an eye on things, but we don't see everything. If you're in out of your depth, then don't hesitate to give us a call. We'll be there as soon as we can."  
"And the tower doors are always open if you need a break. But I'd keep your hood up. People are always photographing us."  
"Yeah, coz it's not like I can climb up the sides and through a window if no-ones looking, huh?"

Steve smirked, and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Well, I suppose you could. Tony might have a fit though."  
"We'll let him know you might show up."  
"And don't crawl through the lab windows. Bruce has a tight grip on himself, but I'm not sure even he could take the shock of some scrawny kid crawling through his window. Especially not since we have so many enemies."  
"We'll tell Tony…"

Peter smiled, nodded, and they all finished their ice cream.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n**_**: hey. People wanted more, so here's more. -fs**_

Tony flopped down next to Peter at the dining room table.

"Hey, kid."  
"Hey."

He poured himself a drink, sipped, and pulled a face.

"Isn't it a little late for you to be awake?"  
"Or a little early. Pepper will kill me, but sleep doesn't really work for me anymore. Something called PTSD. I go to sleep in the arms of a beautiful lady, then wake up in a sweaty mess an hour later with visions of falling through space and being blown backwards as my windows are bombed. Or of… Well. Never mind. I could say the same to you."

Peter shrugged.

"Don't really sleep either. For a similar reason. Every time I shut my eyes I see Gwen's father bleeding out and making me promise to leave her alone. Or her hitting the floor. Or her blank expression with that little bit of blood. I, uh. I dunno."

Tony shuddered.

"You know, Pepper fell from a crane."  
"Huh?"  
"Yeah. 200ft at least. Into a wall of fire."

He sighed.

"It's not gonna help unless I tell you the whole story. Remember the Mandarin?"  
"Who couldn't, huh?"  
"Yeah. Well, the lady who created _Extremis_ had a fling with me at the millennium. Nothing special, obviously, lots of women have had flings with me. But we met a guy in the lift. He wanted to speak to me about some stuff, I wanted to get laid. I was a jerk. Cap says I still am, but I'm nowhere near as bad. I left him waiting on the roof. Years later when I met him again he said he debated stepping off. Part of me wishes he had."

Tony took another drink.

"Either way, I was rude to him. I let him down and I let her down by vanishing the next morning without finishing the equation to stabilise her virus. And when you let people down, they have a habit of finding each other. People with similar grudges get attracted and they come together to hurt the one person who hurt them."  
"I know that feeling."  
"Yeah. I know you do. But you don't have my unfailing luck. They tried to kill me in the Mandarin's name. Pepper nearly died in that explosion, and that's something I can't forgive myself for. I got away, she, stupidly, went with Hansen. She trusts people when she shouldn't. Killian and her took Pepper and injected her with an unstable virus that could cause her to explode to force me to stabilise it. So they could weaponise it. And I already have too much weapon guilt on my hands, you gotta understand that Peter. I needed to save Pepper. And she fell. I promise I'd catch her, but she fell."

Tony looked stricken, as though he was about to be sick.

"But I was lucky. Never ending luck. Extremis saved her, and she saved me. Again. After everything I put her through, she always saves me. I can't ever put her in danger again. But that doesn't mean she won't put herself in danger trying to help me."

Peter nodded, sadly.

"I got a happy ending, Peter. But I could be like you. I beat myself up on a regular basis. So if you ever need someone to talk to, remember where I am. I know."  
"Does it get easier?"  
"Not sure. I'm still guilty, but she talks me out of it. You haven't got that chance. But Peter, you weren't like me. You weren't rude or arrogant. You were trying to help. Everything that happens to Pepper is solely on me. I don't think Gwen's on you. It's on people so damaged that they don't function right anymore. You helped people, whereas I spent years damaging people. I didn't realise until I was too old to go back and mend everything I'd done. You've been born with a gift that I never was. You're gonna feel guilty, don't get me wrong. And sad. And angry, and hateful. But you can't let that get in the way. I'm sure Gwen wouldn't want that."  
"She wouldn't. She was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Tony pretended to be upset.

"I give you a room in my house and invite you into my supergroup and I'm still not the best thing?"

Peter laughed.

"Hey, Tony?"  
"Yeah."  
"If you're not gonna sleep, do you wanna play a videogame with me?"

Tony paused for a second.

"Yeah. Okay. Hey, there's one on the internet based on us."  
"There is?"  
"Yup. How about we download it and play as ourselves. Troll the hell out of the nerds sitting trying to be us!"

Peter smiled, broadly.

"Okay, that sounds like a hell of a lot of fun."  
"Alright. Find some laptops and I'll make some snacks."


End file.
